A. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of gyroscope starting docks.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Gyroscopes have a myriad of diverse purposes, ranging from recreational spinning tops and yoyos to the essential balancing component within motorcycles. The gyroscopic resistance against directional changes of spin axis can be translated into a resistance useful for muscular exercises. As a result, an array of arm and hand exercise equipment has been developed using such scientific principles.
A fundamental gyroscopic wrist exerciser originally appeared within U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,146 issued to Archie Mishler, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Silkebakken illustrates subsequent modifications to the original design in U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,580, and Frederick Mishler follows suit in U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,625; both of which are also incorporated herein by reference. Upon initial usage, those with minimal hand strength have trouble starting the gyroscopic wrist exercisers, and unfortunately, this is the category of people with the greatest potential to benefit from the device.
Early gyroscopic wrist exercisers were started by a pull string wound around the gyro rotor. Eventually, an electric hand-starter was incorporated into the apparatus, creating an initial spinning momentum from which the user could take control during workout. The starter is a hand-held electric tool that can rotationally push a gyro rotor within the outer casing of the hand exerciser, which is held in the air by the opposing hand.
Dworzan in U.S. Pat. No. 7,437,961 issued Oct. 21, 2008 discusses a power dock for starting a gyroscopic wrist exerciser. Dworzan discusses the power starting dock as follows:
In reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a power dock 10 resembles a truncated hexagonal pyramid with a flat bottom 11, an upper shell 12, and slanted sidewalls 13. The dock 10 can be placed on any surface, including and not limited to a desktop. A user may also prefer to hold the device; the invention is easily made portable due to its minimal weight, which can be as little as the accompanying gyroscope 14. The gyroscope 14 shown depicts the exercise type and has a gyro rotor R, although the present invention is easily adaptable to various types of portable gyroscope products.
The dock 10 has a top face 15 slanted forward creating the acute angle A, preferably measuring thirty-nine degrees relative to the flat bottom 11, as shown in FIG. 3. This angle is significant in the present invention because it functions to simultaneously support and drive the gyroscope 13 automatically.
Six outer side edges 16 and a central basin area 17 define the top face 15. The basin area 17 has a large annular edge 18 on which the gyroscope 14 rests. The annular edge 18 extends to a lower stepped surface 19 by an annular wall 20 at a downward converging angle. The lower surface 19 lies parallel to the top face 15.
The power dock 10 may take different shapes, including a three-sided pyramid, a truncated circular cone, or an irregular form. The possibilities are virtually limitless, as long as the power dock provides an anti-cam-out drive for the gyroscope 14 as described in detail below.
The basin 17 is adapted to receive the gyroscope 14 so that it makes a driving engagement with the power dock 10. To provide a unique supportive driving force to the gyroscope 14, an electrically powered rotor 21 is spring-mounted and protrudes at the basin area 17 through an elongated opening 22 formed in the lower surface 19. The rotor 21 may be rubberized over its circumferential areas to provide a good frictional contact with the gyro rotor R.
The lower surface 19 has a concave center area 23, which may superimpose the elongated opening 22 corresponding to the general spherical surface of the gyroscope 13 to be seated.
At the rear sidewall 13, an upright mount 24 that protrudes from the bottom 11 supports a starting button 25. The electrical pushbutton switch completes the circuit only upon depression and immediately breaks the circuit as the switch is released. This eliminates the need for the user to generate any additional motions to start the gyroscope 14 while on the power dock 10.
The rear sidewall 12 bears a cutout for the mount 24 to pass through. Two latches 26 located in the frontal area of the bottom 11 protrude upward, and corresponding holes 27 are formed in the upper shell 12. This allows the bottom 11 to first lock into the shell 12 at the front. The components are additionally fastened at the rear by a screw, which is threaded through the rear sidewall 13 and an upright open slot 28 shown in FIG. 4. For ease of battery replacement, the interior of the power dock can be exposed by simply unscrewing and pulling the shell 12 upward from the bottom 11.
A leaf spring 30 is cantilevered by a post 31 integral to the bottom 11 and suspends a motor 32, which is clipped at its opposite ends by two upwardly bent side plates 33 of the leaf spring 30. In addition, the rotating axis of the motor 32 is fixed to a center bore of the power rotor 21. The spring 30 normally keeps the motor/rotor assembly at a neutral position in the interior of the upper shell 12, with a circumferential section of the power rotor 21 always forced towards the upper front of the power dock 10.
In this embodiment, batteries 34 of three volts are mounted on board to power the motor 32 and the rotor 21, although different rates of motors and power sources may be used as well. A four-sided open compartment 35 holds the batteries 34 under spring 35 biases. The batteries 34 supply the electric power through two wires. One polarity of wire 36 directly connects to one power terminal of the motor 32, and the other polarity of wire 37 is connected through the switch 25 to the other power terminal of the motor 32 in series. It would be possible to operate using a rechargeable battery, which can be connected to a household outlet through an appropriate adaptor.
The installation of the starting button 25 is arbitrary. If desired, the starting button 25 may be replaced by simple electrical terminals arranged under the leaf spring 30 to make or break the power circuit. This particular assembly option capitalizes on the weight or depression of the gyroscope 14.
FIG. 5 illustrates the positional relation of the power rotor 21 to the surrounding components from a frontal perspective. During operation, power dock 10 is laid on a considerably level surface, as shown in FIG. 3.
The power dock 10 receives the gyroscope 14 in the angled basin area 17 with the gyro rotor R oriented in the same rotational direction as the power rotor 21. This configuration ensures that the spring mounted motor 32 keeps the gyro rotor R from bouncing, thus causing a “cam out” as the start button 25 is pushed. The angled surface 19 of the basin area 17 keeps exactly half of the axle weight of the gyro rotor R on the annular wall 20 of the basin area 17 to control “cam out”.
Therefore, the angled basin area 17, leaf spring 26, motor 32 and rotor 21 collectively form a docking base to consistently start the gyroscope 14.
When creating the initial momentum for gyroscope hand/arm exercisers, the power dock 10 may only be used to start the gyro rotor until it reaches a threshold speed. The user must then take over the momentum of the exerciser by applying his/her strength to keep the gyro rotor moving. The upper shell 12 of the invention can be customized to fit a different gyroscope for educational or entertainment purposes. In this case, the power dock 10 may be used repeatedly as needed when the rotator loses inertia.
The motor is flexibly mounted to account for the fact that some gyro rotors are not very concentric with the axle. A rigidly mounted motor may cause the gyro to bounce, lose its seating, and then precess while spinning at the starting RPM. Initial speed can range from one to fifteen rotations per minute (RPM). The spring of the mounted drive should be tuned to allow the motor and drive assembly to drive the off-center rotor. The power starter has the ability to function with numerous versions of gyros, both new and old, and each with different measurements for to the rotor protrusion beyond the gyro housing. The motor height is adjustable in order to allow each gyro to sit flat in the recess cup.
The motor height is user adjustable. An optional setscrew abuts the leaf spring, thus limiting its inherent range of motion. This spring limiting member can be a high adjustable machine screw, or a rigid member that is either mounted or integrally formed with the housing of the product. The spring limiting member is typically formed integrally when the spring has a narrow range or heights. This would occur in the event wherein the device is designed to operate with a specific gyroscope model. A wide variety of calibration and adjustment options are common in art illustrating the limitation of spring member travel.
Unfortunately, after much experimentation, the Dworzan starter has been found to have less than 100% starting capability and other technical difficulties. The precession of the gyroscopic wrist exerciser presents stability problems during rotation acceleration, and tuning the stiffness of the spring is difficult.